FCA Celebrates Production Of One-Millionth Nine-Speed Transmission

The progress of Chrysler's class exclusive nine-speed TorqueFlite automatic gearbox has been a long and interesting saga. But FCA is celebrating a key milestone in the transmissions' journey the production of the one-millionth transmission unit at the firm's Tipton Transmission Plant in Tipton, Indiana.

In a brief statement, FCA North America Vice President Brian Harlow reflected on the development of the transmission, "Five years ago, when Chrysler Group announced that it would build the transmission in Indiana, it was a huge vote of confidence in the skills, knowledge, and expertise of our local work force, especially because ITPI would be the first plant ever to build the nine-speed." The ZF-sourced transmission is currently found on several front- and all-wheel drive models in FCA's lineup and is expected to play a key role in FCA's long term plans for the next few years. The Titpon factory also serves as the final step in the transmission's assembly process with a casting facility in Kokomo producing the basic castings for the unit. Meanwhile, Kokomo Transmission produces the prismatic parts (housings, blocks, and heads) and IPTI produces the rotating parts. Later, all the components are sent to Tipton for the final assembly process.

Once Titpon finishes assembly, the transmissions are shipped to various parts of the globe with some of them going to Toledo and Sterling Heights for installation into the Jeep Cherokee and Chrysler 200 while others are sent to Fiat factories in Melfi, Italy and Pernambuco, Brazil for the Fiat 500X and the Jeep Renegade, as well as Bursa, Turkey for the Ram Promaster.

This milestone is a celebration of the successful negotiation of several initial hurdles that the transmission faced when it was first launched on the Jeep Cherokee. Several software glitches and recalls hobbled it, but FCA has largely remedied these teething issues and expects the transmission to continue being a major piece of equipment for its upcoming products, including the next generation Town & Country minivan, as well as several upcoming Fiat and Jeep offerings.